10 Toronto Coffee Roasters to Buy Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans

In a city as glorious as Toronto, it’d be a coffee crime to get your fix from Tim’s or Starbucks and ignore the incredible selection of independent fresh coffee roasters. Sometimes it’s a lack of sleep that drives the kettle to get turned on, but more often than not it’s the taste of artisanal and craft roasts that brings people into the coffee cycle. Check out some of the following local roasters and pick up a batch of freshly roasted coffee beans to make one hell of a cup o’ Joe. If your interested in buying online, I recommend reserving a spot in line and buying these freshly roasted coffee beans

You can’t talk about Toronto coffee roasters without Pilot coming into the conversation at some point, so we might as well kick it off with them! Their headquarters is located at the east end of the city, but their work extends far further afield. To start, they source their beans directly from farmers, making sure each batch comes from growers that are paid fairly for their services whether the product comes from Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya or Columbia. Their beans come in 12oz batches and start at $17.50. Subscriptions are available for three, six and twelve months, starting from $120. If you’re a lazy son of a gun, their beans can be bought in brewed fashion at Te Aro and Crafted. It’s worth noting that Pilot sells gear as well, as high quality brewers, grinders and kits are up for grabs at their warehouse.

Right outside Jane Station in the west end is the Coffee Tree Roastery—a gourmet coffee shop that brews up their own freshly roasted coffee beans and serves breakfast and lunch items to boot. One of Toronto’s first on-site roasters, Coffee Tree stands strong with its ethically-sourced, quality beans. Their bean offerings and blends aren't just delicious, but they hit every notable coffee certification you’d need: fair trade, organic, grower direct, UTZ certified and they’re part of the rain forest alliance. Some of their signature blends you can buy in bulk include Hot Rod, Millionaires Mixture, Sensuous Morning and the regular Espresso la Corazon. They range from light to smooth to heavy and they come in 12oz bags, with prices starting as low as $15.

With bag labels that look like the periodic table, Sense Appeal gives off the impression that their approach to coffee is a scientific and serious one. But it’s also a creatively collaborative lab. Their beans are scrutinized and chosen for each batch with the utmost care. The best part is they’re not looking to keep this knowledge to themselves. While they aim to broaden the coffee horizon, they also offer cupping tutorials, brewing nights and full courses on how to get into coffee roasting. They sell their own freshly roasted coffee beans by the half or full pound, starting as low as $10 per half. Batches include the “E” (Columbia), “Gn” Brazil, and “K” from Ethiopia. You can pick them up at their Spadina store or pop ‘em in an online cart the new-fashioned way.

With a 10 kilo roaster pumping out 10 fresh coffee roasts a day, Everyday Gourmet keeps their supply ready for the demand. Tucked down on the busy bottom floor of the St. Lawrence Market, on any given day you’ll find a mixture of tourists buying a fresh brew and regulars picking up a pound of beans. They offer House Blends and Single Origins, as well as Espresso. Some bags come as cheap as $14.99/lb, like the Kenya AA or Tanzania Peaberry, while their Hawaii Kona and Jamaica Blue Mountain run for $60/lb. They might be closed on the all-too-crucial hangover Sunday and work-week Monday (despite their name), but you should still stock up on their beans and brew up your own batch anyway.

Honoré de Balzac had two passions in life: writing and coffee. You can guess which one fueled the other. It’s fitting then that Balzac’s Coffee Roasters named themselves after a man who would drink “innumerable” cups a day. Since 1997 they’ve been selling Fair Trade Organic coffee and use locally sourced dairy for all their café beverages. Their different blends are available in-store or online and you can choose from the likes of the traditional Balzac’s blend, Chalchupa Santa Ana, Huila Excelso and a lot more. Prices start at $14 for 12oz and you can buy their beans at about 29 locations across the GTA, including their cafes on Trinity, Hanna Ave, Bond St., Yonge and Market.

This steely hog has been churning out premium-roasted, green bean coffee by collaborating straight with the farmers. They’re coffee lovers producing coffee for coffee lovers. Seems simple enough, right? Pig Iron Rasters offer a variety of beans from filter to espresso. Included among them are the Ethiopia Borana for $18/12oz, Steel Wheel Espresso for $15/12oz and Decaf Wolf for $17/12oz. Pig Iron Roasters serves up their beans in cups or in bulk at their Lit Espresso Bar cafe locations on both Roncesvalles and College, where you can also buy pastry and snack goodies, or you can order their beans online. Their delivery service coincides with their roasting schedule, roasting and shipping on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

At Detour Coffee, every single detail is about quality. Going with the slogan “Thoughtfully Sourced”, they work with Fair Trade, buy large quantities direct from origin, focus on environmental roasting and make sure that no matter what beans they have they are freshly roasted to the best possible quality. They source their stock from all over the world, including Brazil, Ethiopia, Columbia and Rwanda. Their batches come in either 12oz or 1lb bags, starting at $15 and you can even pick up their custom espresso roast they make for Dark Horse cafes across the city. If you wish opt for the economical (and simple) way to order their beans, sign up for a subscription that delivers 2 bags every 2 weeks. Prices start at $70.

Outpost doesn’t mind the seasonality of beans; in fact, they quite enjoy the variety of tastes it can bring. Run by Troy, a former member of the Royal Canadian Navy, Outpost understands the special meaning behind a good cup of coffee. They’ve got half a dozen varieties, including the Carrizal from Costa Rica, Konga from Ethiopia and the Underdog, their house espresso blend. All prices hover around $15 for a 120z bag and you can shop online. If you’d rather they brew it for you, head to their Bloor street location for a freshly roasted coffee and light snack. From time to time they’ll even host live music there. What’s better than a live tune while you sip your Sunday morning away?

One of the oldest gurus in the roasting game, Dark City Coffee Company have been doing their thing since 1987. There used to have a couple of store fronts, but after a bit of restructuring Dark City sticks to what they do best: freshly roasted coffee beans. It’s a pretty simple process too. Every batch is roasted to order, so you know you’re getting a fresh batch the minute you pick up the phone to order. Yea you read that correctly, you order by phone. After you list what type of blend and roast you want (and if you want them ground) your beans are shipped off to you to the tune of a $1 delivery charge in the GTA. As long as you have your order in before 12pm, they’ll arrive the next day. Everything from light to dark, African to Indonesian, straight to your door.

One of the newer Toronto ventures, Hale Coffee boasts artisan roasts from ethically-sourced beans. Their process is inspired by the original coffee profile wheel, finding the perfect combination of flavour and aroma based on the bean’s origin and how they blend and roast it. They offer monthly favourites selected by the head roaster, giving discounts and promo codes on certain batches. They sell bags by the half or full pound, starting as low as $10 per half, including single origin beans as far afield as Brazil, Guatemala and Costa Rica. They also have three Hale blends with Espresso, Italiano and Morning Glory. Dedicated drinkers can opt for subscriptions starting as low as $50 for 1 month up to $455 for 6 months. For the inquisitive coffee drinker, Hale hosts in-house cupping events at their Spadina location, giving their thoughts on what goes into the process and what comes out in the freshly roasted coffee batch.